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MUSIC WEEK, 8 JUNE 1997
Cook Report hoax rocks UK charts
A series of independent companies were left ruing the day they agreed to
do business with Gotham label boss Barry Tomes last week.
Companies including Total Home Entertainment,
Telstar-owned sales operation Full Force and dance
promotions specialist Rush Release were among the companies which
were recruited to work on the Debbie Currie single and found
themselves centre stage in Roger Cook's investigation of the
music business.
Tomes, a former manager of Alvin Stardust, teamed up with
The Cook Report and trainee TV journalist Debbie Currie
(pictured) to produce a record in a bid to expose alleged industry
corruption. With Currie - the daughter of former Tory minister
Edwina Currie - posing as a pop singer, the trio released a
version of You Can Do Magic on Tomes' label Gotham
Records, produced by Mike Stock and Matt Aitken.
But, although the programme makers say they were aiming
to expose manipulation of the chart by the majors, their methods have
angered several independent companies. One section of the programme
apparently shows Rush Release's Ian Titchener giving a
lesson on how to hype the charts.
But Titchener, who was secretly filmed, says, "They have taken
20 seconds out of a two-and-a-half hour discussion. I actually told them
there was no point trying to buy it in. I've never bought in a record. I
only got involved because I had known Tomes for over 10 years. When I
was talking on the programme, I was speaking as I would to a mate saying
what might go on; it is no more underhand than that."
Kevin Moran of AKR Records, whose company was employed to
co-ordinate TV and radio promotion without knowing the record was a
hoax, says he also tried to dissuade Gotham from trying to buy-in the
record. "We said, 'don't be silly, you could get found out and CIN
would pull it'," he says.
Moran adds that he arranged around 25 media events for
Currie including interviews on GLR and Capital
Radio. He fears the company's reputation may be damaged after being
told to scrap the plans when Gotham and Cook admitted the
record was a stunt 10 days ago. "This could affect our credibility
when we go to radio stations in future with other releases," says
Moran.
The first show also features Tony Patoto, sales director of
Total, which distributed the record, outlining the level of deals
demanded by the various retailers. He is quoted as saying HMV
asks for a 64% discount, Virgin Our Price asks for 57% deals
while Woolworth and Entertainment UK request up to 100%.
Patoto says, "Retailers may be upset because I gave away terms
of trade, but I didn't know I was being filmed. I only explained about
free stock given to Woolies and the discount structure, because that is
what you need to do to get records in stores."
The Cook Report's music industry investigation is promising to make
its spiciest revelations in next Tuesday's (June 10) second edition. The
programme makers say the second part of the investigation will show:
a retailer swiping singles without making any sales;
illegal fly posters promoting the single;
a promotions man
buying back copies of the single to push it up the chart.
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